Something Extraordinary
by Darley1101
Summary: Set Season 5. Unable to get past Alex forgetting her, Lexie turns to Mark for guidance. Sexual guidance that is. Meanwhile Derek forces Alex and Izzie out of Meredith's house and into his trailer. Cristina discovers her roommate has a secret. (Mark/Lexie, Izzie/Alex, Meredith/Derek, Callie/Arizona, experimenting with Cristina/George)
1. The Proposition

Title: Something Extraordinary

Author: Darley1101

Rating: M (story contains graphic sexual content. Not suitable for anyone under the age of 18)

Characters/Pairings: Mark/Lexie, Alex/Izzie, Derek/Meredith, Callie/Arizona, Cristina/George

Premise: Set Season 5. Unable to get past Alex forgetting her, Lexie turns to Mark for guidance. Sexual guidance that is. Meanwhile Derek forces Alex and Izzie out of Meredith's house and into his trailer. Cristina discovers her roommate has a secret.

Author's Note: I would like to thank dropdeadnina for encouraging me to do something with this story. I started it forever ago and for some reason never finished it. Since I can't seem to do anything right with my newer stories I figured I would revisit and finish an older one. My goal is to wrap up all my Grey's Anatomy stories so I can close that chapter of my life. I used to love this show and writing for fellow fans. Lately I have been disappointed in the show and seem to be a disappoint to readers. Well, alright. I'm shutting up now. I do hope those of you who take the time to read this enjoy it.

Chapter One

The Proposition

"I need a favor."

Slowly, Dr. Mark Sloan set his mug of coffee on the table in front of him. He crossed his arms and stared up at Dr. Lexie Grey. She gave him a smile that was a bit to bright, even for her. He quirked one eyebrow up, waiting for whatever favor she wanted to ask. With Lexie it could be anything from a piece of gum to asking to scrub in on his next surgery. He'd probably say yes to either. They'd formed an odd sort of friendship; one where he told her what a loser he thought George O'Malley was and she told him to grow the eff up.

"Finally going to ask me for that mind blowing orgasm?" Mark teased. He couldn't help it. Ever since she had told him about George accusing her of sleeping with him it had become a habit to ask if she was ready to make it a reality. He wasn't serious. She was to sweet and innocent for someone like him. He was as jaded as they come. He wasn't going to be responsible for making Meredith's little sister into a cynical, man leery bitch. Let George or some other douche bag do the honors.

A crimson stain seeped into her usually pale cheeks and her slender fingers knotted in the fabric of her scrub top. "What I mean is, Alex forgot about me." Mark crinkled his brow. What the hell was she talking about? "When we had to list who we slept with," she explained. Her teeth drew her lower lip in, a sure sign she was on the verge of a nervous ramble. "He forgot about me. In front of George. And last night George made a joke about it. It's not the least bit funny and I don't want to be the girl whose so lousy in the sack that guys just forget about her."

"You want me to kick his ass," Mark volunteered, trying not to chuckle. In a way he could understand why George would tease her. Alex forgetting he slept with her was the sort of thing that had to be laughed at. It was also something Mark could understand. Girls like Lexie were sweet and cuddly. Sweet and cuddly seldom amounted to freak in the bed.

"No!" Horror widened her eyes. "No!" She shook her head, strands of her medium length brown hair coming loose from the sloppy ponytail she wore low on her neck. "I want you to...you know..." She cleared her throat. No. He didn't know. At least he didn't think he knew. The only thing that came to mind was that mind blowing orgasm he was always teasing her about, and he knew there was no way she was asking him for that. His confusion must have shown because she leaned close, her eyes darting in both directions before locking with his. "I need you to be honest with me."

Relief shot through him. He could be honest with her. It was something he could handle. For a moment there he had been afraid she really was asking him to have sex with her. "I'm always honest with you," he smirked. It was true. If there was one person he was honest with, even when he knew it would piss her off, it was Lexie Grey.

"I know. That's why I'm asking you." A tentative smile teased her full pink lips as her lashes lowered against the apples of her cheeks. His heart twisted a little. There were times it really sucked that she was Meredith's little sister and he was Mark Sloan, a known man-whore. Anything other than friendship would never work between them. They were just to different. Unfortunately his dick didn't seem to understan that because she was to blame for a vast majority of his hard ons. Some friend he was. "I need to know if I'm really that bad."

Ah shit. His first hunch had been right. In the past he wouldn't have hesitated to take her up on the offer. Before she could rethink it, he would have had her naked in the nearest on-call room. He was turning over a new leaf though and new leaf Mark was fighting to be a good friend. It felt like a losing battle. Especially since he could feel an erection straining against the fabric of his navy blue scrub pants. Down boy, he thought. There's not going to be any action. Not with her. "What does that have to do with me?" It was best to play stupid. To pretend he didn't have a clue that she wanted him to act as an objective third party and tell her if she was lousy in the sack. There was no way in hell he was going to be that third party. Forget that they were friends, Derek would kill him, by order of Meredith.

"You're Mark Sloan." The way she said it, it was almost as though she thought that explained it all. He guessed in a way it did. He was Mark Sloan. Lexie wasn't deaf or stupid, which meant she'd heard the rumors of his prowess in the bedroom. "And you're my friend. You'll be honest."

"What exactly are you asking Lexie?" Scrubbing a hand down his face, Mark let out a gust of air. The question was just another way to avoid her bombshell. He already knew how she would answer it. She wanted him to fuck her. If she came right out and asked him, he didn't think he would be able to say no.

"You're going to make him actually ask you, aren't you?" Hell yeah he was. She didn't have the guts to do it. Which meant he wouldn't be put in the predicament of ruining their friendship. She splayed her fingers on the table top and leaned forward. A lock of her hair fell across one eye, giving her a sexy-in-the-girl-next-door-kind-of-way look. "Alright. You win. I want you to have sex with me and tell me how bad I really am."

Well damn. The girl had bigger balls than he had thought. She had actually come out and asked. Which meant he would have to give her an answer. Yes, his erection cried. Yes, yes, yes! "What do I get out of it?" The question was more of a stalling tactic than a serious inquiry. Her eyes darkened with hurt while the wheels in her head started to turn. She was trying to come up with something to offer him. Something other than herself. He muttered a curse word under his breath. He hadn't meant for her to take the question that way. He hadn't meant to make her feel worse than she already did. And she had to be feeling pretty low to come to him the way she had.

"I'll teach you how to be a nicer person," she said after a while.

"Let me see if I have this right. In exchange for training you to do sexual tricks that will blow O'Malley's mind, you're going to teach me how to be nicer?" It was almost laughable. Almost because she was dead serious. She thought he needed to learn how to be a nicer person. Maybe she was right. A nice guy sure as hell wouldn't be giving her proposition serious thought.

"I think that about covers it," she answers weakly. Her throat visibly worked up and down. When she raised a hand to brush back the hair that was hanging in her face it was trembling. "So...we're agreed? You'll teach me?"

Teach her. When Richard Webber had asked him to be a teacher, Mark didn't think this was the sort of teaching the man had in mind. Never the less, it was the sort of 'teaching' that went on all the time. Burk and Yang. Derek and Meredith. Addison had even shagged Karev before high tailing it to Los Angeles. So why shouldn't he? The more he thought about it, he could be doing the nice guy thing. A nice guy would help their friend out. Wasn't that all Lexie was asking for anyways? For him to help her out? Weak excuses. Every last one of them. He was a weak man though, and there was nothing in his 'new leaf' handbook that said he couldn't use his skills to help out a friend. "This will change things, you know that right?"

Lexie hesitated before nodding. "I can't be that girl. I can't be the girl whose forgettable," she whispered.

He wanted to tell her she couldn't be forgettable if she tried. Instead, he told her to be at his hotel room at eight o'clock that night.


	2. The Unwanted Roommate

Author's Note: Often times us writers will say we write a story for ourselves and reviews are just a bonus. While this is true to some degree, we need that feedback. We need to know what we're doing right, what we're doing wrong. We want to know we're not alone in the story. All the encouraging words that have been posted by readers so far really made this writer's day! Here is the second chapter! Enjoy! (Especially my Alex/Izzie fans)

Chapter Two

The Unwanted Roommate

A sick feeling twisted in the pit of Izzie Stevens stomach as she stood next to her car, staring at the shiny, silver trailer where Derek Shepherd had banished her and Alex Karev. The outside was much nicer than the one she had grown up in. No missing skirting. No dilapidated wooden porch. No cigarette butts littering the ground. And it was highly doubtful there was orange shag carpeting inside. Appearance didn't matter. A trailer was a trailer in her book.

"I call the bed," Alex grumbled as he shoved past her. His arms were laden down with a duffel bag and box of trophies. Pursing her lips together, Izzie followed him inside. He could try to claim the bed all he wanted but that didn't mean he was going to get it. If she had to suffer living in a tin can with him she was at least going to sleep in a real bed, not some fold out couch.

The inside wasn't as bad she thought it would be. A small kitchen ran half-way down the side closest to the door with a booth like table across from it. There was a tiny living area at one one end with a pull out couch, a trunk that served as a coffee table and a plasma television mounted on the wall. The bedroom was at the opposite end with two doors that could only be a closet and the bathroom. For one person, especially a busy one, it was perfect. For a couple it would be cozy. To share with a man she was slowly starting to hate? It would be a nightmare!

"Dude, it's like a sardine can," Alex griped, setting his box down on the table. Izzie took the opportunity to lay claim to the bedroom. She dropped her bag, as well as the clothes that had been laid across her arm, onto the full sized bed. "Hey! I called the bed!"

"First come, first serve," she smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. He shot her a dirty look and repeated his claim to the bedroom. "Sorry, but I got here first."

"And I told you that I wanted the bedroom."

Rolling her eyes, Izzie turned her attention towards unpacking her bag. Behind her she could still hear Alex complaining. She gritted her teeth and spun around. "I'm not going to watch while you parade your skanks through. You can use the pull out. It's closer to the door." Stepping forward she grabbed the small handle on the sliding door and slid it shut. This was going to be her personal space whether he liked it or not. She bent slightly at the waist and unzipped her bag. A tangle of lacy bras and panties spilled on to the bed, along with socks and several pairs of yoga pants.

Behind her the door slid back open. "I can't sleep on the pull out," Alex argued. Seriously? He was going to keep arguing? What was he, two? "I'm to tall."

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes, refusing to look at him. Maybe if she kept busy with unpacking he would take the hint that she wasn't going to cave and he would leave. "We're practically the same height Alex. Stop being a cry baby. Be a big boy and accept the fact that the bedroom is mine. Now, if you don't mind, I would love to finish my unpacking in peace."

"Yeah. Whatever." He started back into the main living area and then paused. He glanced over his shoulder, a smug look on his face. "I don't know why you think you need privacy. We both know you're not getting any."

"You're an ass!"

"Maybe, but at least I'm getting laid on a regular basis. But hey, if you ever decide your tired of flying solo you could always join in when I bring one of my 'skanks' home."

The wink he shot her was the last straw. Maybe she wasn't getting any, but it wasn't because she couldn't. Guys hit on her all the time. She just wasn't interested in being another name on a list. Or worse, another number on a list. She had more respect for herself than that. She used to think Alex understood how she felt about casual sex. He'd always acted like he did. A lump formed in her throat and her chest tightened. The guy in front of her wasn't the Alex she had thought of as another best friend. She didn't know this guy. "I don't know what your problem is, and I'm getting to the point I don't care. So just...stop. Stop rubbing your stupid bar whores in my face." Reaching up she pushed her choppy blonde hair out of her face, digging her fingers into her scalp.

"Your my problem." The anger in his voice caused her to jump. She'd never seen him like this. "Always butting in where you don't belong. Just...stay out of my way...out of my life."

"Gladly!" Face burning, Izzie blinked back the salty moisture that was forming in her eyes. "I can't believe I ever thought you were my friend." She felt a single tear trickle down her cheek as he told her they had never been friends, he had just been trying to get laid. She wanted to call him a liar, to remind them he'd already gotten into her pants once before. She knew better. Calling him out on his bull shit wouldn't get her anywhere. Rebecca Pope had broken something inside him, changing him. Izzie wasn't sure there was any way he could be fixed. What she did know was she wasn't and couldn't be the one to fix him. Not this time. Which sucked. It sucked big time. "Leave me alone," she whispered, once more closing the sliding door. This time it stayed closed. Plopping down on the edge of the bed, she did something she hadn't done in a while. She let herself cry over Alex Karev.


	3. The Loneliness Sinks In

Author's Note: All your continued support means the world to me! I hope you enjoy Chapter 3!

Chapter Three

The Loneliness Sinks In

An abnormal silence greeted Meredith Grey as she stepped out of the cool autumn air and into the dark foyer of her house. She started to call out, asking if anyone was home, when she remembered. There was nobody to answer her. Derek was stuck in surgery and her roommates no longer lived there. She was alone.

"Alone is good," she said aloud, knowing it was ridiculous to talk to herself. Nobody was there to mock her though, so what did it matter? "Alone is great." Yes. It was good to be alone. No. Correction. It was great to be alone. She smiled, setting her keys on the little table next to the door and then shrugging out of the light weight denim jacket. Since Izzie wasn't there to lecture her about leaving her things around, she tossed the jacket in the general direction of the coat tree and giggled when it hit the floor. Alex would get a kick out of it. Except there was no Alex. He was gone to. There was only Derek. No doubt it would annoy Derek, but he would pick it up without a lecture or teasing.

Sighing, she wandered into the living room. She supposed she could put in a movie, but she wasn't the greatest about picking out something good. Usually Izzie would put on some ridiculous, yet endearing, chick flick; or Alex would bug her until she agreed to watch one of his action films. "I could just grab one," she pointed out to herself. Crouching in front of the shelf where she kept movies, she closed her eyes and reached out. The first slender DVD box she touched, she grasped and pulled out. 'Love In The Time of Cholera.' She made a face and quickly put it back. Cristina had left it and if she remembered correctly she had fallen asleep half way through. She didn't need a sedative. She needed a laugh. "What would Izzie pick," she muttered, scanning the shelf. None of the quirky romantic comedies she had enjoyed with Izzie were there. Another quick scan revealed that all her favorite action movies were gone as well. "Figures." She couldn't be mad. Izzie and Alex had brought the movies with them when they moved it. It only made sense that they would take them with them when they moved out. It just sucked. It really, really sucked. She owned no good movies and the ones Cristina left were boring.

The growling in her stomach reminded Meredith that she hadn't eaten since early morning. She started to wonder what Izzie was going to cook for dinner but caught herself. Izzie wasn't there to cook. She would have to make dinner herself. It wouldn't be so bad. She could throw together something simple. How hard could it be to cook spaghetti? She'd seen Izzie do it enough over the years. Boil some noodles. Fry some hamburger meat. Add a can of sauce. Presto, dinner! She could do that. A faint grin spread across her lips as she opened to the freezer door. She could do it, but thanks to Izzie she wouldn't have to. The freezer was full of tupperware bowls. She pulled out the top one and hurried toward the microwave. Soon the smell of meatloaf and mashed potatoes was filling the air. She would have to remember to call and thank Izzie.

"I should call her now," she said around a bite of buttery potatoes. Shoveling in one more bite, she dialed Izzie's number. "Thanks for the food," she said when her former roommate picked up. "Seriously, I think I would have starved or burned down the house." 

"I can't do this, Meredith," Izzie cried on the other end. She launched into a shrill telling of what an ass Alex was being. A moment later she let out a screech and her voice was replaced by Alex's.

"The trailer isn't big enough for the both of us, Mere. You're going to have to have Derek evict some one and I think we both know which one that should be!" Alex yelled.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Meredith wincd. She had known letting her former roommates move into Derek's trailer was a bad idea. Had anyone listened to her? Of course not. They had all taken the easy, and quick, way out. She had known this would happen. There was too much history between them and they were both volatile when it came to the other. Cramming that into a tiny trailer had disaster written all over it.

"If all you're going to do is yell, I'm hanging up," Meredith threatened. The screaming match on the other end came to a halt. "I called to think Izzie and to tay that I miss you guys. I wanted to see if you wanted to, you know, maybe meet at Joe's for a beer...or something."

"Joe's sounds good," agreed Alex. Izzie sputtered something about him wanting to find his latest skank. "You're just jealous."

"Of your mission to catch an S.T.D.? Oh yeah, I am just eaten up with jealousy," Izzie sneered. She had somehow taken control of the phone again. "Meredith, I would be happy to meet you at Joe's. And I'm glad you're enjoying the food. I'll make up a few more on my day off. I hate cooking for myself, so I might as well pack some up for you."

In the background Meredith could hear Alex asking if she was going to refuse to feed him. She let out a laugh. She wondered if Alex knew how whiny he sounded. Probably not, and he wouldn't appreciate her pointing it out. "Hey, Iz, do you think I could borrow a few movies? Like that one with Patrick Dempsey where he's supposed to be a bridesmaid?"

"Made of Honor." Izzie signed. "Yeah, I'll bring it to Joe's along with some cookies. There's no way I can eat a whole two dozen by myself."

This time there was no hiding her laugher when Alex openly asked why he couldn't have the extra cookies. Of course Izzie had to tell him to just ask one of his bar whores to bake for him, that is if they had big enough brains to figure out how. Meredith yelled good-bye, hanging up before she could be drawn into the fight again. As she hung up the phone she decided she would have to speak with Derek about the trailer situation, because clearly her former roommates couldn't live there. Not together. They would have to come home where they belonged, whether he liked it or not.


	4. The Lessons Begin

Author's Note: I have to dedicate this chapter to LexieMcSteamy. Her continued faith in my ability to write Mark and Lexie keeps me inspired! Enjoy!

Chapter Four

The Lessons Begin

A nervous fluttering erupted in Lexie's stomach as she stood outside Mark's hotel. When the idea of having Mark teach her how to be memorable in bed first came to her, she had been at an all time low. Alex had left her name off his list and George had thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. Her already tentative ego had suddenly become fragile. There were only two people in her life that she trusted to be honest with her. One was Meredith. The other was Mark. She couldn't ask Meredith to have sex with her and tell her what she was doing wrong. That left Mark.

"Just breath," she whispered, inhaling deeply as she took a tentative step into the brightly lit lobby. It was exactly how she imagined a luxury hotel lobby would look like. All white marble, gold fixtures, and snooty looking staff members in perfectly pressed uniforms. For a split second she thought about turning around and walking out the door. She would tell Mark she couldn't do it. He would understand. Hell, he was probably expecting it. Which was why she had to follow through. She wasn't going to be forgettable and a quitter. Squaring her shoulders, she walked straight to the front desk. The haughty look the clerk gave her when she asked for Mark Sloan's room had her shifting from foot to foot. She felt a blush creeping into her cheeks as the middle aged woman behind the front desk looked her over. She knew what the clerk was thinking: she was there to warm Mark's bed.

"He'll be down to get you in a moment," the clerk said coolly after she hung up the phone. It seemed rather silly that they had to call Mark, make sure he wanted her there, and then, once he said yes, they made him come down to get her. Why not just give her the room number? It would make more sense.

"Thanks," whispered Lexie. She turned on the ball of her foot and walked over to one of the gold chairs that were strategically placed around the lobby. Tentatively she sat on the edge, her heart pounding as she tried to give herself a pep talk. It was going to be fun. Mark was a pro. He knew things most people didn't and he was going to teach her. She should have been excited, women she knew and worked with, that would sell part of their soul to get naked with Mark Sloan. She just felt sick to her stomach. The whole thing felt dirty. Wrong. Like she was using him. "You're not using him," she murmured. He was going to teach her how not to be forgettable, and she was going to teach him how to be a nice guy. It was a fair trade, she told herself. She was doing the world, especially the female world, a favor by showing Mark how to be a nice guy.

"Little Grey."

The slow, drawled out way he said his nickname for her sent a ripple down her spine. There had always been something about his voice. He could be talking about the most mundane thing, like a rectal exam or a fecal sample, and it would sound sexy. "Hi," Lexie breathed, a nervous fluttering erupting in her stomach. "So..how have you been? The wind is crazy out there! And I'm pretty sure it's going to rain. It definitely felt like rain." Sweet baby Jesus, why couldn't she shut up?

Mark chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. He wore a simple light gray sleeveless t-shirt with a pair of navy basketball shorts and running shoes that had seen better days. "Small talk, Little Grey?" He shook his head before uncrossing his arms and holding out a hand. She stared at it for a moment before placing her hand in his palm. His large fingers wrapped around her smaller ones. Another rippled ran down her spine. A reminder that she was no better than the nurses who talked about all the things they wanted to do with Dr. Mark Sloan. The only difference was she kept her thoughts quiet and she was about to discover all the different ways Mark could twist a woman into his own personal sexual pretzel.

"Oh, well, you know, it's the polite thing to do." Why had she said that? He probably thought she was a moron. Oh, who was she kidding, she was a moron. Only a moron would think exchanging sex lessons for nice lessons was a good idea. The tip of her tongue darted out to lick her lips.

"Polite huh?" The amusement in his voice made her scowl. Even if she had sounded like an idiot, he didn't have to laugh at her.

"Yes, Dr. Sloan. Polite. Something you need to learn more about." Raising her chin a notch, Lexie yanked her hand away from his. Or she tried to. He held fast, the amusement on his face growing. "Let. Go."

"Not a chance." The soft way he said it had her heart racing. She couldn't be sure, but she thought her panties might be damp. How embarrassing! If he was laughing about her about rambling, she could only imagine what he would do if he knew his voice made her ache in places he, as her friend and teacher, shouldn't be making her ache.

"So," she squeaked, "we're really doing this?"

He chuckled again. "You asked for my help, not the other way around. You're the only one who can answer that." He let her hand go. It fell against her side. Already she missed the warmth of his fingers. A slow grin spread across his lips as he took a few steps backward. "You coming?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to say 'not yet' but she kept her lips pressed firmly together. He wasn't talking about that kind of coming. Was her? She let out a shaky breath as she followed him out of the main lobby and into what looked to be a more intimate sitting area. Her pulse picked up pace as he closed a set of french doors, shutting them off from the rest of the world. Surely he wasn't going to have their first lesson here! She'd never had sex in a public place and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Maybe that was her problem. She wasn't adventurous enough. "I don't know how to do this," she said softly, breaking the silence. "I've never done this sort of thing before and I don't know the rules." There. She had admitted to never having had sex in public and she'd established that she needed rules.

"The rules?" Mark echoed, one of his brows lifting. His apparent amusement brought a scowl to her face. He didn't have to laugh at her. "I didn't know there were rules, other than we both keep our ends of the agreement."

"Don't you think we need, rules?" Lexie demanded. "I think we need rules. Just to be sure we both know what is expected."

A smirk twitched on his lips. "I thought it was pretty obvious what was expected on me."

"I'm glad you find this all so amusing," Lexie sputtered, her cheeks flushing a brilliant red. His smirk faded and he walked closer to her. "I never should have come here." She blinked as she felt her eyes starting to burn. She never would have asked Mark if she had known he was going to laugh at her. She had expected some teasing but nothing like this. "I shouldn't have asked you to-" His full lips caught hers in a kiss. She felt his fingers sliding into her hair, pulling her face closer to his. Sliding her palms up his chest, she curled her fingers into the soft fabric of his shirt. This wasn't her first kiss. Far from it. Yet it felt as though it were the first time she had ever really been kissed. She started to protest when he ended it as suddenly as he had started it. Swallowing, Lexie could do nothing but stare at him, her eyes wide. It all made sense now, why the nurses had turned on him. A man couldn't kiss a woman with that much passion and then walk away. It wasn't fair. In fact, it was cruel. "What was that," she whispered. "I mean, seriously? Why did you do that?"

"You were starting to talk crazy. I had to get your attention somehow," Mark demurred. "Look, if you want out of this, that is your choice. This was your idea, not mind. Just don't back out because you're not sure what you're supposed to do. I thought that was why you were here to begin with; to cure yourself of being a sexual retard."

A sexual retard? Lexie felt her lips part and a sputter start. She wasn't sexually retarded. She was just...inexperienced. She could count on one hand the number of guys she had slept with and the closest she had come to casual had been Alex. Even then there had been a friendship of sorts. Of course Rebecca showing up had put a damper on that, and Alex had literally forgotten about her. That didn't make her sexually retarded though. And really, wasn't it politically incorrect to use the term retard to begin with? If it wasn't, it should be.

"If we're going to do this, the first thing we need to work on is how you kiss," Mark continued.

He couldn't be serious. The kiss they had just shared had been fantastic. She had felt it all the way to her toes. It was everything a kiss was supposed to be. Kisses didn't get any better than that. "What's wrong with how I kiss?"

"You don't participate. You let the man do all the work. Which is fine if you want to be average."

"I'm not average," Lexie argued, knowing it was a lie. On her best day she was slightly above average. She wasn't beautiful like Izzie or interesting like Cristina, and there was no bad childhood that made her dark and twisty like Meredith. She was just plain jane, average Lexie. It was down right depressing, now that she thought about it.

"Then stop kissing like you are. If you fuck the way you kiss it's no wonder Karev forgot about you." T

ears burned her eyes. She had wanted him to be honest, not cruel. She hadn't expected him to rip apart her failures and pour salt in a raw wound. There were nicer ways of pointing out a person's shortcomings. Blinking rapidly, she took a shaky breath. That was her part of their deal. "You're being an ass," she sniffed. "You're a mean, mean ass!"

"So I've heard." A smug grin quirked corners of his lips up. "Then again, you knew that. Isn't that why you offered to teach me to be nicer?" Hearing him voice the thoughts she had just been thinking buffered her resolve. She could do this. If not for her own sake, then for his. He couldn't continue to go through life being such an ass.

"Well, consider this your first lesson." Tossing back a chunk of dark hair, Lexie forced herself to meet his gaze head on. "Think before you speak!"

"Fair enough." Mark took another step closer, his body less than an inch from her own. "Consider this your first lesson. Participate!" This time when he cupped her cheek and lowered his mouth to her's, she was prepared. She didn't let the shock freeze her in place. Tentatively she crept one hand up to his necks, her fingers splaying across the short hair on the nape of his neck. His tongue slipped past her lips, coaxing hers into a playful sparring match. It took her a moment to pick up the rhythm. Once she did, once she found herself in the same mindset as him, she couldn't shake that overwhelming sense that she had never been properly kissed before. Not until now.

"Not bad. You're getting better," Mark murmured as he pulled back. He brushed a lock of hair off her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek. For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her again. Instead he rubbed his thumb across the apple of her cheek before dropping his hand to his side. "If you don't mind Grey, I have a date. I need to start getting ready."

Lexie felt her brow wrinkle. That was it? That was his big lesson in how not to be average in bed? To participate when kissing? Her body stiffened. She should have known this would happen. She was so inadequate that even Mark Sloan wouldn't...She stopped her train of thought. She wasn't being fair. It wasn't Mark's fault that she was so clueless or whatever it was that made Alex forget her, George only look at her as a friend, and, she swallowed, a known man whore wasn't interested in anything other than kissing. "I get it," she said stiffly, praying her resolve didn't crack.

"You get what?" Mark asked gruffly.

"That you're not...that I don't...This was a bad idea." Letting out a shaky breath, she raised her arms and pushed her mink colored hair off her face. "Thank you for being honest. I...I hope this...this doesn't ruin our friendship...that...that you..."

"Little Grey," he cut her off. "This isn't a bad idea. There's just a lot more to making love than getting naked. And for a girl like you...that's what it is. Making love." He pressed a kiss to her forehead before reaching for the door knob. She stared after him, confusion clouding her eyes. What did he mean? A girl like her?


End file.
